Rhodesian Ridgeback Did You Know?

• The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a large, muscular dog originally bred in South Africa to hunt lions. It is also known as the African Lion Hound.



• The peculiarity of the Ridgeback breed is the ridge of hair which grows forward on his back.



• In 1922, a group of Rhodesian breeders set up a standard for Ridgebacks which has remained virtually unchanged ever since.



• The Rhodesian Ridgeback was admitted to registry by the AKC in 1955.



• The breed was created by the Hottentots, a native race of South Africa, and the early Dutch, German, and Huguenot settlers who emigrated there.


They combined Danes, Mastiffs, Greyhounds, Bloodhounds, Terriers, and other breeds with the half-wild Hottentot hunting breed to create the Ridgeback.


• Not surprisingly, the lack of a defining ridge on the back is unacceptable in the Ridgeback breed.